Home

CREED (Blu-ray combo)

February 27, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Drama, PG-13 rated Leave a comment

CreedcoverGrade: B+
Entire family: No
2015, 133 min., Color
Warner Bros./MGM
Rated PG-13 for violence, language, and some sensuality
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 7.1
Bonus features: C+
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Amazon link
Trailer

You’ve heard the jokes about Rocky XX and so on. After the popular film franchise, which began with Rocky in 1976, came out with Rocky II (1979), III (1982), IV (1985), and V (1990) in what seemed like rapid succession, entertainment writers started tossing off one-liners about the series continuing down the road with Sylvester Stallone eventually mixing it up with residents at a rest home from his wheelchair.

Well, who’s laughing now? Not only did Stallone prove he still had it with Rocky Balboa (2006), but with Creed he shows that he can effortlessly shift from the Rocky role into the role of boxing trainer—a part that Burgess Meredith made famous, and for which Meredith earned an Oscar nomination.

CreedscreenStallone earned an Oscar nomination for his initial role as Rocky, and he earned his second acting Oscar nomination for playing Rocky Balboa the trainer in this 2015 sport drama. What that means, all you jokers, is that Rocky CAN go on for many more years, though now the title shifts to Creed. And Creed II, III, or whatever. It’s no longer dependent upon Stallone’s ability to give or take a punch.

Stallone is as engaging as Meredith’s crusty seen-it-all trainer, and his performance anchors the film, both as a presence and as a plot point that’s central to the screenplay. The son of Apollo Creed fighting for the championship with boxing legend Rocky Balboa, “The Italian Stallion,” in his corner? It’s a dream-come-true for boxing promoters, and just as dreamy for filmmakers wanting to inject this storied but stalled franchise with a new shot of adrenalin.

As Adonis Johnson, the illegitimate son of Rocky’s deceased foe-and-friend who has a rap sheet as long as his juvenile hall stays, Michael B. Jordan comes to the film buff and ready to go the full 12 rounds. As Creed’s widow, Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show, Do No Harm) isn’t nearly the tough-love foster parent young Donnie needs, but that only goes to show that he’s more boxer-at-heart than he is criminal-at-heart. As he trains we see him go down the same streets and marketplaces as Rocky once did, and also climbing those famous Philadelphia Museum of Art steps that are commemorated by a statue of Rocky that’s also shown in the film. Though it’s not intrusively nostalgic or formulaic, fans will still notice quite a few similarities between Rocky and Creed. Both are headstrong and self-taught lumps of coal that need a little compressed discipline and training to be come diamonds, both get a shot at the championship well before they’re ready, both find a skull-cap wearing trainer, and both find a woman that motivates them. It’s Rocky all over again, but shifting characters makes it feel like a double-layered film rather than a formulaic exercise.

Creedscreen1The first four Rocky films and Rocky Balboa were rated PG, but Creed follows in the footsteps of Rocky V, with a PG-13 rating for violence, language, and some sensuality. But Creed is more violent and intense than any of the previous Rocky films, and there’s an implied sex scene and more language (including the F-word). So it’s every bit a PG-13 film. It’s also an entertaining film because the characters are likable, they grow and have good chemistry together (including Jordan and Tessa Thompson, who plays love-interest Bianca, a singer going permanently deaf), and the plot framework itself is a proven winner. Creed is Rocky for a new generation, with realistically choreographed boxing sequences, plenty of attitude, and just as much punch. And a sparkling transfer to Blu-ray and DTS-HDMA 7.1 really brings it all to vivid life.

Language: Typical range of PG-13 swear words, with at least one f-bomb tossed
Sex: Nothing graphic or too revealing, but there is naked skin and implied coupling, plus plenty of kissing
Violence: More violence both inside and outside the ring than in previous Rocky movies; people get beat, people get hurt
Adult situations: There’s not so much in the way of drinking as there was in previous Rocky movies
Takeaways: If you’re going to continue a series of films and not be worrying about your star’s physical capabilities, this reboot is certainly a good way to solve the problem, and Stallone is just as engaging as a trainer in a supporting role as he was the boxer and star

SPECTRE (Blu-ray)

February 13, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, PG-13 rated Leave a comment

SpectrecoverGrade: B
2015, 148 min., Color
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some disturbing images, sensuality and language
MGM/Twentieth Century Fox
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 7.1
Bonus features: C-
Includes: Blu-ray, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

James Bond films are notorious for their pre-title sequences, and the one for Spectre (2015) is spectacular. In it, Bond (Daniel Craig) falls level to level as a building collapses, only to land, seat first, onto a well-placed couch . . . and walk away, causing viewers to think that maybe, just maybe, the franchise is trying to find its way back to the original tongue-in-cheek spy adventures that made 007 such a worldwide phenomenon in the first place. But what follows lies somewhere between the extreme gritty realism of the previous three Craig-as-Bond films and the campy fun fans got when Sean Connery and Roger Moore had the license to kill. It’s as if the screenwriters couldn’t agree what direction they wanted to go, and director Sam Mendes went along with it.

Spectrescreen2But that opening sequence is enough to make you wonder: What happened to the snappy exchanges between Bond and Q or M, or Miss Moneypenny? Or the women he beds? And why didn’t Christoph Waltz as Blofeld get more screen time to give him a chance to be a stronger, bolder, more menacing villain? Henchman Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista) is engaging while onscreen, but afterwards he doesn’t stick with you the way Odd Job or Jaws did. Q (Ben Whishaw) has little to do and little charisma, and even the “Bond girls” (a universal term, not mine) seem less memorable this 24th franchise outing. Spectre is still plenty entertaining, but despite a budget that’s reportedly the most expensive of all the Bond films ($245 million), it doesn’t “wow” the way some Bond movies do. The locations don’t have that überexotic feel to them that previous films often did. Director Mendes decided to go with a selectively desaturated and nearly monochromatic color palette for a Day of the Dead sequence in Mexico, and the other non-European location, Tangier, features a similar dusky-golden palette. And the plot features elements we’ve seen before in a number of Bond movies.

SpectrescreenIn Spectre, Bond goes rogue again, off on his own agenda because of information provided him by M (Judi Dench), who had been killed in the previous film. A criminal organization is focused on committing acts of terrorism, and Bond is bent on stopping them. Against the orders of the new M (Ralph Fiennes), he travels to Rome to talk to the wife of a man he just killed (Monica Bellucci), then to Austria to confront a man who used to work for SPECTRE and MI6 (Jesper Christiansen), and finally to seek out the man’s daughter (Léa Seydoux), who is now in grave danger.

It’s at the bad guy’s base where things start to get a little convoluted, as the screenwriters try to both complicate the narrative and insert information for what turns out to be an origin story for Ernst Stavro Blofeld and the organization fans have been following all these years. But the terrorism plot would have been just fine, thank you, had the writers focused more on dialogue and on the kind of dominoes-falling plots viewers got in earlier Bond films. Unnecessarily added here are an internal affairs subplot and a crossover background story that links Bond and Blofeld. But the writers could have stuck to basics rather than resorting to contrivances. For example, now that the attractive Naomie Harris has taken over as Miss Moneypenny, the screenwriters still haven’t figured out what to do with her, given that they can no longer play up the hollow flirtations between lovestruck but plain-looking Moneypenny and Bond, who prefers his women shaken, not stirred.

Despite the complaints, remember, this is the Bond franchise, and as A View to a Kill—still the weakest entry of the bunch—has proven, even Bond at his worst is way better than most action-dramas Hollywood produces. While Spectre may not be the mega-movie that Skyfall was, it’s entertaining enough and a solid B on the Family Home Theater grading scale. On Blu-ray it also happens to look awesome, with a 7.1 soundtrack really giving the special effects the heft that they deserve.

Language: No “f” words and less than a dozen other profanities
Sex: Surprisingly no sex scenes, no nudity
Violence: Eye gouging, torture (blood shown), crashes, explosions, killings
Adult situations: Drinking, one scene involving drunkenness
Takeaway: Daniel Craig is rumored to still be interested in his fifth and the franchise’s 25th bond film, and he’s still a convincing Bond, especially if the writers challenge him with something new—like a return to those terrific tongue-in-cheek lines

EVEREST (3D Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo)

January 17, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Drama, PG-13 rated 1 Comment

EverestcoverGrade: B+
Entire family: No
2015, 121 min., Color
Rated PG-13 for intense peril and disturbing images
Universal
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: Atmos Dolby True HD
Bonus features: B/B+
Includes: 3D Blu-ray, 2D Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

“Because it’s there.”

That’s the reason George Mallory gave in 1924 when asked why he would risk his life to reach the summit of Mt. Everest—Earth’s highest point and the tallest of 14 mountains in Pakistan, Nepal, and China that are more than 8,000 meters (five miles) high. For dedicated climbers and adventurers, that’s reason enough.

Everest is a 2015 adventure-drama based on a 1996 climb when a blizzard took the lives of eight people, several of which are dramatized here. Reaching the summit takes more than courage and experience. It also takes $65,000 to join one of the commercial outfits leading expeditions each year. Because there’s only a small window of opportunity, based on the weather conditions, the mountain can get crowded. Thirty-four climbers were trying to reach the summit on the same day that year. That’s one of the points made in the movie, which focuses on Rob Hall (Jason Clarke), leader of Adventure Consultants, and his six clients, but also peripherally on Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal), the Mountain Madness guide that Hall recruits to cooperate with each other.

Everestscreen1Hall lays it all out for his climbers and viewers at the beginning. This will be a survival challenge. “Human beings are not designed to function at the cruising altitude of a 747. Your bodies will be literally dying.” Like Quint in Jaws, he pulls off his shoe and sock to show them his scars—a foot with no toes on it—and reminds them that one out of four climbers who attempt the summit will die.

Those odds don’t seem to bother the climbers, but one wonders about the film crews. The IMAX documentary Everest (1998) was being filmed at the time of this 1996 climb, and when disaster struck, the crew joined the search and rescue. That’s not highlighted here, though some of the stock footage from that earlier documentary does find its way into the film. Ironically in April 2014, when this fictionalized drama was being shot, filming was postponed because a sudden storm killed 16 people, most of them Sherpas, at a base camp.

That’s the true-story backdrop to this harrowing drama, which begins like an adventure and quickly starts to feel like a slow-march-to-disaster movie. Although we spend a lot of time with the characters, we don’t get to know too much about them because the focus is on preparation for the climb and the climb itself. But we know enough to care when some of them die, reach or fall short of their dreams, or barely make it down the mountain. It’s impossible not to be moved, especially by Rob Hall and his Texas client Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin), the latter of whom had “forgotten” to tell his wife and children that he was attempting Everest.

Everestscreen2This fictional treatment has more power than the documentaries, and on 3D Blu-ray the film looks spectacular—especially those long shots of Everest and the views from the mountain. Depth of field is superb, but don’t look for things to break the viewing plane. The film is nearly as remarkable looking on standard 2D Blu-ray, with solid detail even when snowstorms come. That clarity really brings this experience to life, and the acting and cinematography are as convincing as a script that only briefly flirts with melodrama as we watch wives (Robin Wright as Peach Weathers, Keira Knightley as Jan Hall) come to terms with the situation as it unfolds. If you’ve ever dreamed of doing the impossible—like the Washington mailman who hoped to inspire the schoolchildren of his town who raised the money so he could climb—Everest is a powerful, if unsettling, film.

Language: Nothing much. They’re bundled up and wearing oxygen masks much of the movie
Sex: n/a
Violence: Deaths are shown
Adult situations: Drinking but no drunkenness; frostbitten flesh is shown, along with frozen dead bodies and plenty of moments of peril
Takeaway: As much as you admire the climbers that inspired this movie, you also have to admire anyone who would risk their lives to film such an adventure-drama

THE INTERN (Blu-ray combo)

January 12, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Comedy, PG-13 rated Leave a comment

InterncoverGrade: B
Entire family: No
2015, 121 min., Color
Rated PG-13 for some suggestive content and brief strong language
Warner Bros.
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: C+
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

What goes around, comes around. In The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Anne Hathaway played an assistant to an intimidating boss, but in The Intern, a 2015 indie comedy (that’s more fairly called a “dramedy”), SHE’S the intimidating boss. And the poor beleaguered assistant trying to deal with her? None other than veteran screen tough guy Robert De Niro, who plays a 70-year-old widower looking to fill the emptiness in his life and thinking a pilot senior internship program at a new-but-rocking Internet clothing business might be just the ticket.

For an indie film, that’s pretty high-concept, and director Nancy Meyers (The Holiday, It’s Complicated, Something’s Gotta Give) gives Hathaway and De Niro plenty of time for their relationship to simmer away—so much so, in fact, that you’d almost expect a December-May romance to develop. But to the credit of Meyers, who also wrote the script, that doesn’t happen. We also don’t get a heavy-handed allegory about how useful seniors are, though that’s certainly obvious from their interaction. The Intern may have a gimmicky premise, but Meyers lets her two stars do all the heavy lifting. And you know what? They’re fun to watch. You know what’s going to happen from the outset, and it does. But there are also moments where you go, “Huh, I didn’t see that coming.”

Like Fiona (Rene Russo), a massage therapist who isn’t afraid to go after what she wants, or an apparent second-in-command (Adam DeVine) who’d do the same if he knew what that was. Or Matt (Anders Holm), Hathaway’s character’s husband, who gives up a successful career to let his even more successful wife launch her dream company.

InternscreenPredictably, the CEO and the intern she’s forced to take on follow an arc that goes from “I don’t need you” to “I can’t live without you,” but it’s everything else in between that offers unexpected pleasures and delights. There’s some clever dialogue, too, as when Ben (De Niro) tells Jules (Hathaway), “You’re never wrong for doing the right thing,” and she responds, “That’s great. Who said that?” Ben responds, “I did. But I’m sure Mark Twain said it before that.”

The Intern is rated for “some suggestive content and brief strong language,” but really it’s a pretty upbeat and positive film that mostly keeps any unwholesome moments off-camera. There are three exceptions: the use of the “f-word,” an implication that a man is getting an erection (because someone helps him cover it up), and a woman who drinks too much throwing up in a trash can. But honestly, the whole trajectory of this film is so positive that those few moments (the latter of which can be seen as a cautionary tale) really don’t amount to much. The Intern, however, does. It’s fun watching Ben “get back into the game,” never too forceful but always managing to do and say the right things. He’s as intuitive and resourceful as MacGyver, without all the gadgets.

Our family of adults and teens agreed that it was a solid B. Maybe even a B+. It all depends on how much you like Hathaway and De Niro, and we liked them a lot in this engaging comedy with dramatic moments.

Language: Three instances of the “f” word and a few minors
Sex: That one implied erection incidence
Violence: n/a
Adult situations: An old woman flips someone off, and there is drinking (and from-a-distance puking)
Takeaway: Two pros can make just about any premise work. Make that three pros, counting Meyers. 

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (Blu-ray combo)

November 14, 2015

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, PG-13 rated Leave a comment

ManfromUnclecoverGrade: A-/B+
Entire family: No
2015, 116 min., Color
Rated PG-13 for action violence, some suggestive content, and partial nudity
Warner Bros.
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: Dolby Atmos
Bonus features: B
Trailer
Amazon link

Give me an imaginative origin story over a reboot any day of the week. Especially if Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) is sitting in the director’s chair.

For four years in the sixties, Robert Vaughn and David McCallum starred on NBC-TV as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin—American and Soviet special operatives working for Alexander Waverly’s top-secret international counter-espionage agency known as U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement). It was the TV version of the James Bond films—a campy serialized spy adventure that aired during the Cold War but sidestepped the polarization between two superpowers and instead had U.N.C.L.E. facing off against T.H.R.U.S.H., just as the Bond films introduced SPECTRE as the nemesis organization.

In this 2015 film version of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. we get the story of how the two Cold War enemies came to work together and see how their very different backgrounds and personalities made them reluctant partners in the tradition of the very best buddy cop movies.

ManfromUnclescreenA scientist whose work could change the balance of world power has disappeared, and the Soviets and Americans realize that this is one time they must work together to keep such power out of the hands of rogue states. After almost killing each other in an opening sequence, Solo (Henry Cavill) and Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) are ordered to partner for the good of humankind, and they go to Italy to work undercover and try to locate the scientist through his daughter Gaby (Alicia Vikander) and her uncle—playful pun intended, I’m sure.

There’s plenty of action in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., but, just as important, the film manages to capture the tongue-in-cheek campy fun of the original series. In one scene, for example, Solo sits in a vehicle eating a sandwich and drinking wine while viewers see Kuryakin struggling with the bad guys in the distance. There’s plenty of banter, too, concerning the preferred Russian way and the American way of doing things and plenty of digs at each other’s competency. When Solo is about to open a safe and Kuryakin asks, “Did you disable the alarm?” Solo smugly replies, “There’s no alarm on the 307.” RINGGGG!!!! “Loving your work, Cowboy,” Kuryakin deadpans.

Cavill, Hammer, and Vikander have good chemistry together, and that helps to fill any voids when the action subsides. Even Hugh Grant, working with a very small role as Waverly, manages to get into the act, and Elizabeth Debicki really nails the glamorous Bond-style femme fatale down.

The Bond films always offered glimpses of exotic places and that was a part of their appeal. Ritchie understands that and provides a generous amount of panoramic long shots of Italy, where parts of the movie were filmed. A funky, hip soundtrack adds to the fun. Yes, there are familiar elements here, from the nuclear scientist to the psychotic torture expert, but everything comes together incredibly well. It’s formulaic, it’s familiar, it’s a popcorn movie, but who cares? It works.

Language: Surprisingly clean; a few minor swearwords and sexual slang references
Sex: A woman is shown in panties and the sides of bare breasts are shown in darkness; implied sex is listened to by electronic eavesdroppers
Violence: Death scenes are blunted by Bond-style jokes, and explosions and bullets, not blood, dominates here
Adult situations: Some alcohol and smoking, but not much, and it’s really on the periphery
Takeaway: In the right hands, old TV series make for great movie entertainment

A.D.: THE BIBLE CONTINUES (Blu-ray)

November 13, 2015

James Plath, Family Home Theater Drama, PG-13 rated Leave a comment

ADcoverGrade: B+/B
Entire family: No
2015, 12 episodes (600 min.), Color
Unrated (would be PG-13 for graphic violence)
MGM
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio: English DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: C+
Trailer
Amazon link

The New Testament gets the TV miniseries treatment in A.D.: The Bible Continues, a less sprawling 2015 sequel to the gap-filled 2013 miniseries, The Bible.

What immediately impresses is that A.D. presents a believable ancient-world reality, despite slightly modernized language and direction that includes all sorts of contemporary techniques. It’s really well made, with great production values. While previous biblical movies and miniseries stayed with unobtrusive camerawork and an overly respectful treatment of the material often handcuffed directors, the five (Ciaran Donnelly, Tony Mitchell, Brian Kelly, Rob Evans, Paul Wilmshurst) who direct these 12 one-hour episodes use such devices as quick cuts, extreme close-ups, character flashbacks, walk-and-talks, and cross-cut scenes so that A.D. feels contemporary but still looks convincingly ancient. Filmed in Morocco using CGI to enhance the illusion, A.D. also features some gorgeous cinematography (it looks terrific in HD).

What’s more, you never find yourself thinking that these are actors wearing costumes, and for that you can credit the casting department. For the most part A.D. is constructed like a contemporary dramatic miniseries and only infrequently lapses into the kind of heavens-open-and-angels-sing schlock-and-awe that characterized the old-school biblical epics. Also missing (and thankfully so) is the gratuitous sex and violence that now seems requisite for “edgy” TV miniseries. A.D. only includes violence that seems necessary to the storytelling and manages to find its edge without going any further. Some, for example, might think it edgy that Mary Magdalene (Chipo Chung) is ethnic in this production, that the humanity of Jesus (Juan Pablo Di Pace) is emphasized, or that the political machinations involving the Roman governor Pilate (Vincent Regan), the Hebrew high priest Caiaphas (Richard Coyle), and various emperors are worthy of House of Cards episode.

ADscreenDespite a complicated plot in later episodes, A.D. flows well—much better than The Bible—starting with Jesus’ crucifixion (yes, the filmmakers assume a certain knowledge of subject matter on the part of the audience) and continuing with the backlash and the early activities of Jesus’ disciples, as told in the Book of Acts.    More

JURASSIC WORLD (Blu-ray combo)

October 30, 2015

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, PG-13 rated Leave a comment

JurassicWorldcoverGrade: B+/A-
Entire family: No
2015, 124 min., Color
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and peril
Universal
Aspect ratio: 2.00:1
Featured audio: English DTS-HDMA 7.1
Bonus features: B-
Trailer
Amazon link

Jurassic World was built over the remains of Jurassic Park, and a jaded public’s appetite for bigger and more dangerous creatures has led a team of entrepreneurial scientists to not just replicate species from DNA but to create dinosaur hybrids. Bigger and more dangerous ones.

A lot of people have called Jurassic World the best thrill ride in the series, but I still think it takes a backseat to the 1993 film that started it all, which had more memorable characters, moral debates, and moments of sheer terror. There aren’t nearly as many iconic scenes in this third sequel to match the outhouse segment or the raptors in the kitchen. But there IS nonstop action and some pretty big and dramatic special effects.

Jurassic World features the best-looking CGI dinosaurs I’ve seen—and that incudes a gigantic fish-like mosasaur that’s even more impressive than the featured terrorizer: a hybrid killing machine named Indominus rex, created with the combined genetic makeup of a T-rex and velociraptors.

JurassicWorldscreen1The framework is similar to the first movie. A pair of siblings are sent to visit a relative at the park—in this case a workaholic aunt (Bryce Dallas Howard) who serves as the operations manager. Predictably, all hell breaks loose when Indominus rex escapes,

But in Jurassic World it’s not just a small group of visitors at an empty park that dinosaurs terrorize. The park is open and chock full of visitors, and at one point everyone is attacked by flocks of prehistoric flying reptiles in a scene that will have movie fans thinking back to Hitchcock’s The Birds. From that point, Jurassic World has the feel of a disaster movie.

Chris Pratt makes for a hunky Indiana Jones-style hero who’s a little scruffy and rides a motorcycle—just enough to qualify as a “bad boy” for female JurassicWorldscreen2audience members. He’s more animal trainer than scientist in this fourth installment, which features some pretty cool scenes of him putting a pack of Velociraptors through their paces. In a nod to the original film, B.D. Wong turns up again as the chief geneticist, and a couple of Jimmies appear in brief cameos: Fallon and Buffett. But perhaps the biggest surprise of the movie is director Colin Tervorrow, whose previous credits only included an Australian romantic comedy, a reality show documentary, and a TV movie. His vision clearly matched what Universal had in mind.

If Jurassic Park merits an A, then Jurassic World gets an A-. If you’d give the first film an A-, then this one is a B+. It’s not off by much and it certainly beats The Lost World: Jurassic Park 2 and Jurassic Park 3 by a long shot. It’s no surprise that Pratt, who’s already in pre-production with a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, is signed on to appear in another Jurassic World film that’s slated for 2018 release. They’re calling it a sequel to Jurassic World, which means they’re thinking of this movie as a reboot. And as such, it’s pretty darned successful.

Language: Less than a dozen minor expletives
Sex: n/a
Violence: This is probably the most violent of the series, and yet because we can see it coming it’s not as terrifying as the first film
Adult situations: Brief drinking, a brief kiss, but that’s about it
Takeaway: Hollywood is sequel crazy, but when a sequel’s this good, it’s crazy

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS: 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (Blu-ray)

October 17, 2015

James Plath, Family Home Theater PG-13 rated, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Leave a comment

EdwardScissorhandscoverGrade: B+
Entire family: No
1990, 105 min., Color
20th Century Fox
Rated PG-13 for innuendo, language, and some violence and peril
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Featured audio: English DTS-HDMA 4.0
Bonus features: C
Includes: Blu-ray, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

As the original TV series 21 Jump Street was winding down, Johnny Depp made the leap to a starring role on the big screen in Tim Burton’s fantasy-fable Edward Scissorhands (1990).

Edward wasn’t the first Goth, but he’s certainly the most memorable. Before his “makeover” he’s dressed entirely in black leather with studs and rings all over. With his hair spiked and face looking pale as EdwardScissorhandsscreen1death, he could easily have passed for one of those post-punkers that sprung up as a counterculture movement in the early 1980’s in London and Dublin—except that his hands were literally clumps of scissors. We learn in flashback that he lived in this Gothic castle with his creator (Vincent Price), an inventor who died before he could fit his beloved creature with a pair of hands.

Edward Scissorhands is a clever variation on the Mary Shelley novel. It embraces the basic structure and themes of Frankenstein, but also skewers suburbia for good measure. As Burton described it, it’s as if a more sensitive and communicative Frankenstein’s “monster” just happened to live in Martha Stewart’s neighborhood.   More

SAN ANDREAS (Blu-ray combo)

October 16, 2015

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, PG-13 rated, Thriller Leave a comment

SanAndreascoverGrade: C+
Entire family: No
2015, 114 min., Color
Warner Bros.
Rated PG-13 for intense disaster action and brief strong language
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: English TrueHD 7.1
Bonus features: B
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

You don’t have to be a seismologist to know that San Andreas is far-fetched—though an expert will certainly confirm your suspicions.

In this 2015 disaster movie starring Dwayne Johnson, an earthquake caused by a fault no one even knew about completely destroys the Hoover Dam, setting off a chain reaction that leads the San Andreas Fault to shift dramatically. When that happens, all of Los Angeles spectacularly crashes and burns—no spoiler here, you’ve seen the previews—and all the massive skyscrapers and buildings for many miles topple like dominoes. Then a second quake and a tsunami knock down everything and everyone who thought they’d survived—again, in spectacular fashion. We’re not just talking about L.A., either. The destruction begins in the City of Angels with a 9.1 quake on the Richter scale and spreads across California, with a second major quake to the north registering a 9.6.

SanAndreasscreen1The actual San Andreas Fault is nearly 800 miles long and has the potential to cause a disastrous earthquake, but not one above 9.0. That’s because, according to experts, the fault is not long or deep enough. Plus, the level of destruction wouldn’t be nearly as massive. Scientists predict a San Andreas earthquake would cause 1800 deaths and 50,000 injuries, with hundreds of old buildings and a few skyscrapers collapsing—nothing remotely close to the wholesale destruction we see in the film.

Then again, subtlety has never been a Hollywood trademark. Thinking back to disaster movies of the ‘70s that started it all—films like Airport, The Poseidon Adventure, and The Towering Inferno—I’m struck that at least this time there isn’t a woman like Shelley Winters shrieking in panic the entire time. Besides, these are popcorn movies that rely more on story than factuality, and on special effects more than story.

Viewers will recognize two stories combined into one: Godzilla (only this time it’s nature doing the stomping) and any number of cop dramas where the guy has to rescue his estranged wife and/or daughter. Paul Giamatti SanAndreasscreen2plays the lone scientist trying to warn everyone (really?). So it’s all pretty familiar, and if you happen to miss the first act you’re not missing a lot. We don’t learn much about these people except that Ray (Johnson) is a helicopter rescue pilot who served with his team in the military, and his ex-wife Emma (Carla Gugino) is moving in with real-estate developer Daniel (Ioan Gruffudd). Ray’s not happy about that, but grown-up daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario) understands and provides another person for him to worry about when the quake strikes. The only backstory we get is that Ray and Emma had a daughter named Mallory who drowned years earlier, so of course that tsunami proves especially terrifying. Throw in a few British brothers visiting California (Hugo Johnstone-Burt, Art Parkinson) and you get a romantic sideplot and comic relief.   More

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (Blu-ray combo)

October 4, 2015

James Plath, Family Home Theater 3D, Action-Adventure, PG-13 rated, Reviews (by Genre), Sci-Fi/Fantasy Leave a comment

AvengersAgeofUltronGrade: A-
Entire family: No
2015, 141 min., Color
Marvel/Disney
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence and destruction, and for some suggestive comments/language
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: English DTS-HDMA 7.1
Bonus features: A-/B+
Included: Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, Digital HD (DVD sold separately)
Trailer
Amazon link

All superheroes try to save the world. It’s in their contract. But the crisis usually isn’t of their own making, as it is in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

The sequel to 2012’s The Avengers is a slam-bang action and special effects movie that requires you to pay attention to pick up the plot points—which means that family members on the low side of the PG-13 rating might be slow to figure things out, though they won’t care a bit. They’ll be happy enough savoring the breakneck action and appreciating the CGI antics of Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Captain America (Chris Evans).

In the pre-title sequence, the Avengers raid a Hydra stronghold in a fictional Eastern European country and recover Loki’s scepter that Hydra scientists were using to experiment on human subjects, including a pair of twins—the now superfast Pietro and mind-manipulating Wanda. But what viewers can see that the Avengers can’t is that Hydra actually wanted them to take that scepter, knowing its power for evil and Tony Stark’s all-or-nothing personality.

Thor is anxious to return the scepter to his world, but trouble ensues when Stark (aka Iron Man) borrows it to upload into his global defense program, dubbed “Ultron,” and the scepter A.I. causes Ultron to go full-blown evil. He eliminates Stark’s A.I., J.A.R.V.I.S., and, like all non-human intelligences, looks around and decides that the world would be a better place without so much bickering flesh and blood. The rest of the film follows the Avengers attempts to track him down—which means a return trip to fictional Sokovia and some pretty cool all-out battles.

AvengersAgeofUltronscreenI’m giving this an A- only because the special effects are uneven. That long pre-title sequence incorporates shortcuts—sped up shots, wildly sweeping cameras, and quick cuts—to generate the appearance of furious action. Thankfully the rest of the film is mostly devoid of those cheap tricks, and viewers can “marvel” at the action as it plays out. In Avengers: Age of Ultron the characters Hawkeye, The Hulk, and Black Widow get more development, and Samuel L. Jackson returns as Nick Fury, but only for the third act. Ultron is the star of this show, and he’s villainous enough to pull the very best out of the Avengers.

Some viewers might have flashbacks to the 1999 remake of The Mummy, in which an evil one tries to “upgrade” himself from walking skeleton to fully flesh-and-blood villain, because the same thing holds true for Ultron. The opening sequence might also remind viewers of the Star Wars series—particularly the speeder bike sequences from Return of the Jedi—because, even more than the first Avengers film, this one goes full-bore CGI in action, backgrounds, settings, and objects.

But it’s accomplished and it’s as entertaining as popcorn movies get. Because of the complexity, because of the accomplished special effects, it’s a film that ought to get plenty of repeat play. The collector’s edition comes with 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and Digital HD, with more than 45 minutes of exclusive bonus features. The DVD is sold separately, but Blu-ray is the way to go, mostly because the sound is so amazing. The picture has plenty of pop, but it’s the immersive soundtrack that sells it. And if you have 3D capability, the depth and tracking during quick scenes is pretty amazing.

Language: A surprising “s-word” early in the film that’s used as a running joke, but otherwise pretty clean
Sex: n/a
Violence: Plenty of fantasy violence, but no graphic blood-letting
Adult situations: Some innuendo, but that’s it
Takeaway: Marvel and Disney are inching closer into Star Wars territory, and creating a series of movies with just as many connections and complexities.

Older Entries Newer Entries